Almost everyone wants to change something about themselves, longer hair, flatter tummy, bluer eyes, thinner thighs, whiter teeth. Some things are easier than others to achieve. It takes hard work to get a flatter tummy or thinner thighs unless you resort to the surgeons knife, but whiter teeth? That’s easy isn’t it? Even beauticians are doing it. Would you like whiter teeth with your bikini waxing madame? What a good idea, or is it?
Tooth whitening from our practice near Bristol is an excellent way to improve the appearance of your teeth. It doesn’t require injections, it doesn’t require drilling and you can see the results straight away. Whiter teeth are associated with looking younger, and we all want to look younger don’t we? That is unless you are under age and want to fool the bouncer on the nightclub door, at which point young girls are desperate to look older. However, assuming that you are not in this group, looking younger is quite desirable.
Just Google tooth or teeth whitening, and you will find that there are dozens of people offering it, all promising beautiful teeth. So what is the problem with non-dentally trained people carrying out tooth whitening? For a start, it’s illegal for anyone to carry out tooth whitening without the supervision of a dentist. Often the products that are used by beauticians can actually damage the teeth causing long term problems. A qualified dentist can assess you and your mouth and advise you if tooth whitening is suitable. To maintain any colour change that you achieve, you should have custom-made home trays for long term maintenance. These are not provided by beauticians.
There a few reasons why a dentist may advise you that tooth whitening is not for you. These include fillings, crowns or veneers at the front of the mouth, staining on the teeth that should be removed by a dental hygienist, poor oral hygiene, and a few medical conditions. A beautician is not qualified to diagnose any of these problems.
I would not want anyone reading this blog to think that I have a problem with beauticians, I really like my beautician and respect what she does, but she would not consider herself qualified to whiten anyone’s teeth, and I am not qualified to do a facial or waxing.
Do yourself a favour, if you want whiter teeth, have it done a dental professional. You wouldn’t call a plumber to fix your television would you? Don’t take a chance with the health of your teeth.
Why not download my free eGuide:
‘The Definitive Guide to Teeth Whitening’
In my guide I talk about:
What causes tooth discolouration
How safe is tooth whitening?
What systems are available for tooth whitening
How long does teeth whitening last?
Are there any side effetcs of teeth whitening?
Plus lots more…
Simply enter your details opposite and I’ll email you my guide right away…
Along with 2 billion other people I watched the Royal Wedding last month as Kate Middleton became Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge. It was a beautiful ceremony and she looked absolutely stunning, the Royal Family have definitely got a new star.
Her dress had been the subject of intense speculation for months, along with her flowers, her hair, her make-up. She didn’t disappoint, but the one thing that was certain, she would have a huge smile on her face and her smile is a million dollar smile. I cannot help but feel that no matter what she wore, and how her hair was, if she didn’t have her beautiful smile, it might not have had the same stunning effect.
I can only speculate how the Duchess came by her smile, and I think that it would be fair to guess that she may have worn teeth braces when she was younger, but basically she hasn’t had veneers or any other cosmetic enhancement to her teeth. She is lucky enough to have a naturally lovely smile.
At Evolve, we are keen for our patients to explore all options to improve their smile if that is what they would like to do. For some people it’s appropriate to consider veneers to improve the appearance of their teeth, however often the way forward is to consider a brace to move your healthy teeth into the right position, maybe finished with some tooth whitening. By doing this, you don’t need to cut away any of your teeth and you don’t have the ongoing cost of maintaining your veneers.
You no longer need to wear ugly metal braces and it can take as little as 6 months to get a great smile. There are invisible braces and discrete braces, a specialist orthodontist can tell you all the options available to you. I would strongly advise you to always ask your dentist about how a brace can improve your smile, they should be able to refer you to the right orthodontist.
Just remember, if you want maximum impact, you can have the right dress, the right hair, the right shoes, but make sure your smile is gorgeous to complete the picture.
Aren’t braces for just for children and teenagers? Why do adults wear braces?
The reason that most adults want to straighten their teeth is that after having braces when they were younger, their teeth are no longer straight.
Why does this happen?
We now know that teeth will want to move back to their original position over time and if not kept in place with a retainer, this is just what they will do. This can lead to crooked or overlapping teeth that do not look good when you smile or have your photo taken.
How do you stop this problem?
The answer is simple, permanent retention.
What is retention?
In 2009, Prince William was photographed with a wire stuck to the back of his teeth. The media went crazy, but all we were seeing in his mouth was some very good orthodontics. He has got a wire stuck to the back of his lower teeth and this prevents the teeth from going back to their original position. He had it fitted 10 years previously when his braces were taken off.
This is called a permanent retainer as it cannot be taking in and out.
This is the ideal way of holding teeth in place and making sure that the effort of getting straight teeth has not been wasted. Sometimes, a fixed retainer is not appropriate or the person doesn’t want something fixed in their mouth, so a removable retainer is worn at night. This is a rigid, plastic, small shield worn over the teeth. It does rely on being worn and needs to be worn regularly, these retainers do not work in the bedside drawer, however, it does mean that there is nothing fixed in your mouth.
Orthodontics can be carried out at any time, at any age but no matter what age you are, if you want your beautiful smile to last a lifetime, then wear a retainer and hold it in place.
Please call us on 01275 821765 for further details on orthodontics or download our FREE eGuide to orthodontics
I was watching a Channel 4 programme last night called “Beauty and the Beast”, which involved a person who is obsessed by beauty to spend time with a person who may have a facial disfigurement that they were either born with or as a result of an accident. The point of the programme was to highlight the an obsession with your looks is not healthy, neither is the the quick fix solution such as liposuction, a boob job or any other irreversible surgical procedure. It may be that a healthy diet, good exercise plan and a positive attitude are the solutions.
In the world of dentistry, we are often asked to create a “Hollywood Smile” with wall to wall veneers. It is common place for celebrities to get their teeth “fixed”. The people asking for this treatment are often young and have had little or not previous dental treatment in the past. They are looking for an instant fix, and want it now!
When I am advising patients what is best for them, I take into consideration all the factors that are relevant to that particular person:
how old they are
what their time frame is
what their lifestyle is
what previous treatment they have had
the current health of their mouth
what budget they have got
I also offer all appropriate options, sometimes people have assumed that they are too old for certain treatments available.
This brings me to what we call the “Natural Hollywood Smile”, and by this I mean moving the patient’s own teeth to create a beautiful smile. Any person who has largely unfilled teeth but just doesn’t like the position of them, should always consider the option of orthodontics before having them cut away to place veneers.
What is orthodontics?
It’s using various types of braces to move teeth gently to another position. Do I mean ugly metal train tracks? No I don’t!! These days there are many options available using tooth coloured braces, invisible braces or rapid braces. No one needs to know that you are wearing a brace, apart from your dentist.
Why is orthodontics a better option than veneers?
Well, it may take a bit longer than the quick fix solution, but in the long run, you will have your own teeth that will not be in a cycle of needing veneers replacing every 10 -15 years. That is better for you, better for your teeth and better for your pocket. You could finish off your new smile with some tooth whitening just to give it that final boost!
Am I against veneers? Not all all, at Evolve we place them all the time, but only for the cases when orthodontics has been considered and is not suitable, this may be because there are crowns or veneers that need to be replaced, or the teeth have large fillings in them, or the teeth are stained in such a way that straightening and whitening will not give the result that our patient is hoping for.
I heard this morning that Chris Evans is going to wear an invisible brace to straighten his teeth, so even celebrities can see the benefit of investing a bit of time to get the best result.
We love Christmas at Evolve and would like to thank all our patients who took the time to send us cards.
Thank you for our Christmas cards
Every year we like to give our patients a little present when they visit us during December and this year we offered everyone Christmas tea, our beautiful tea bags that we serve to our patients.
Christmas tea from Tea Forte
If you missed getting your tea in December, we would still like to give you a present in the New Year. We will be launching Evolve Orthodontics offering invisible braces, discrete braces and the Inman Aligner. Anyone who starts orthodontic treatment in January or February will get free home tooth whitening or 50% off in-surgery tooth whitening at the end of your treatment. so call us now to book your appointment.
Thank you all for your continued support through 2010, we look forward to welcoming you all again in 2011.
At Evolve Dentistry, a lot of the patients we see want to improve their smile or would like to have a younger looking smile. We are always happy to advise on how this can be achieved, whether this involves major treatment or just a little tweak. Age should never be a reason not to do something, especially if it makes you feel better about yourself. We have a couple of patients in their 70′s undergoing orthodontic treatment as they would like to improve their smile, and I say good for them!
So here are my top 6 tips on how to achieve a younger smile:
Keep as many teeth as possible, gaps in the smile is very ageing, not many 20 year olds have missing teeth. If you have got gaps that can be seen, consider replacing these with an implant, a bridge or a denture. Make sure you visit a dentist regularly so that a little problem doesn’t become a big one.
See a dental hygienist regularly. Tea, coffee, wine and smoking stains can age teeth and these are removed with regular hygiene therapy. It has also been shown that gum disease can increase your risk of heart disease, diabetes and Alzheimer’s, so even more important to make sure that your gums are healthy.
Get your teeth whitened, tooth whitening gives the teeth a younger, fresher appearance. You can choose home whitening or in-surgery whitening. Always have this done by a dental professional; beauticians and hairdressers are not qualified to offer this treatment.
Have discoloured fillings replaced, older people tend to have older dentistry in their mouth, over time this will discolour and can cause the smile to appear older. Old fillings can be replaced with new white fillings, inlays or veneers.
As people get older, the edges of the front teeth can appear worn and chipped, younger teeth have got slightly rounder corners, you can have your teeth gently reshaped to recreate this shape.
Consider a complete smile makeover and get the smile you have always wanted. I believe that most people in the UK want a nice natural smile and not the very white uniform smile favoured in the States. This could be done using braces to move your teeth, and these days the braces can be invisible or you could have veneers placed on the teeth if your teeth are very discoloured or heavily filled. With the technology and products now available, we can now achieve a long lasting, predictable natural smile just for you.
Your smile is the first thing that someone notices about you, why not feel great when you smile?
In my next blog, I will tell you the truth about tooth whitening and dispel a few myths.
I have been asked many times “What makes Evolve Dentistry in Portishead different from other dental practice?” and have given this some thought over recent months. Having discussed this with the team at Evolve, we have decided the main thing that makes our dental practice different is that we pride ourselves in really knowing our patients and making a great effort to understand their dental needs, we also deliver superb customer service. Of course there is an assumption that the dentistry will be great, that is why our patients come to us, and I am not using this blog to suggest that the quality of dentistry is lacking in other practices, however, I believe that we are special and here are the top 5 reasons that make Evolve Dentistry different:
We make people feel good and help increase their self-confidence.
We enjoy helping our patients achieve the smiles they want.
We have fun as a team and are really proud of our practice.
Relaxation and comfort for our patients is really important to us.
We serve great coffee, and work hard to ensure that every time our patients visit Evolve they have a really positive experience.
Of course there are lots of other little touches that also makes us special, the lavender scented reception area, the tap in the loo, the fresh contemporary flowers, the champagne, I could go on, but it would be easier to come and find out for yourself. We are always happy to welcome guests to Evolve and are delighted to answer any questions and show you our practice. At Evolve, we don’t just talk the talk, we walk the talk as well, we want you to feel special every time you visit us and that’s what make us different. In my next blog I will tell you 6 top tips to a younger looking smile.
